The White-haired Boy
by Vain Ambitions
Summary: Hinamori fell in love with this mysterious boy.
1. Chapter 1

**It has been a long while since I last watched Bleach (and the recent Bleach mangas hardly have Hitsugaya and Hinamori in the story) so the character might be a little off. Okay might be very off. Whatever haha. It's the story that's important, hope you guys enjoy it! :)**

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It was a usual day, sometime in the cold winter, and Hinamori was practicing the piano. Chopin's Nocturne Op 9 No. 2; that was the piece she was playing. A beautiful classic with which Hinamori had been playing for years but never had never got sick of it, and probably will never ever be sick of it.

"That was beautiful."

Hinamori jumped slightly, startled. She spun around, only to see a white-hair boy standing at the corner of the room. He was leaning by the window sill, and the white snow outside the window matched magnificently with his angelic hair. He looked like he's around her age. Hinamori hardly got the chance to see people of her age around, and the excitement grew in her.

"Erm, thanks, who are you?" She asked.

The boy hesitated before answering uncertainly. "Hitsugaya Toushiro."

"Hi! I am Hinamori Momo!" She answered.

There was a short instance of consternation on the boy's face. "Oh, you're his granddaughter."

"You know my grandfather?" That was a stupid question, though, thought Hinamori after asking. This is her house, her grandfather's house, it should be obvious he knew her grandfather.

"Yeah, I work for him." Hitsugaya said, somewhat unhappily.

Work? Hinamori thought only adults work. "How old are you?"

"12, I think."

"You think?" Hinamori laughed. "Hey me too, I'm 12 too!" She exclaimed happily. She had been living in this house for too long, facing all the adults every day, so she could not help but be enthralled at this fellow boy of her age – he thinks. "But why do you need to work when you're only 12?"

"That's nothing else to do, I guess." He replied dryly.

"What do you work as?" She asked, interested.

Hitsugaya stared at her exasperatedly. "Erm… I settle customer's complains." He said slowly.

"Wow, that sounds really complicated." She answered, not knowing what it means. "You must be a genius!"

Hitsugaya laughed. "Not really. For one I can't play the piano."

"But your work is real work that is useful to Daddy. Playing the piano is useless; it doesn't help in anything." Hinamori grumbled. For so long the only thing she knew was to play the piano and read books; her father did not allow her to do anything else.

"That's not true. Your playing was beautiful." Hitsugaya said gently. "Anything beautiful is not useless."

Hinamori blushed. "Well, this is a beautiful piece of music." She contemplated for a while before saying. "I'll play another classic. It's also a beautiful piece, but I've only played it for a year, and I'll be playing it for competition next month."

She turned back to her piano, and placed her hands on the piano. She closed her eyes, took a deep breathe, and started playing.

The piece was about 5 minutes long, and the room was silent, only for the sound of her piano.

When she was done, she turned slowly to see Hitsugaya's reaction.

He was staring at her, mouth slightly opened. "That…was beautiful." There was nothing else he could say.

"Really? My piano teacher said I don't have the right expressions for this piece." She said shyly. "It's called _Liebestraum_, which means Love Dream, by Liszt."

"Love, huh?" Hitsugaya laughed. "Oh well, that was nice, I got to go now though."

"Are you coming back?" Hinamori asked eagerly. "I wanna play with you!"

"Play?" Hitsugaya laughed again. "That would be fun; I've always wanted a playmate." He said as he took out a pen and walked towards Hinamori. He grabbed her hand and wrote: _9pm-10pm, the pavilion at the back of the garden_.

"I'll be there every day, Hinamori." He leaned forward and added in a whisper. "Don't tell anybody about this, alright?"

Hinamori grinned uncontrollably and nodded hard as she stared at her hand; her heart was bursting with happiness. "Thanks! Er…Shiro haha, Shiro-chan!"

Hitsugaya looked slightly annoyed with the sudden nickname, but he shrugged it off. "Alright, bye then."

"Bye!"

Hinamori stared at Hitsugaya's leaving figure, grinning to herself. After she could no longer see him, she looked down at her hand, and caressed the words Hitsugaya wrote. Words could not describe what she was feeling; in fact, she's not quite sure what she was feeling, but one thing she knew for sure: she was never going to wash her hand.

She turned back to her piano, and started playing _Liebestraum_ again.

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**Review, please! Thanks for reading :) Hope you enjoyed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is the second chapter :) I have no idea why I'm writing a fanfiction when I'm having mid-year examinations, oh well, hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for the reviews I got for the first chapter, keep them coming! :) Reading all the reviews, I think the story progression in the next few chapters will throw all of you off guard haha. Nevertheless, hope you guys can continue enjoying and reading!**

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Hinamori ran towards the garden. She told her maids that she suddenly had an interest in looking at flowers, especially flowers that bloom at night. That was not exactly false, since Hinamori do like looking at flowers (though she's not sure what flowers bloom at night), so she's not lying. Though going to the garden at winter time was not something Hinamori especially liked.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the familiar white hair. "Shiro-chan!" She exclaimed.

He turned around. "Hi, Hinamori." He said.

"Do you live near here or something?" She asked as she caught her breath.

"Sort of." He said.

Hinamori smiled. She did not know why, but she was just so happy to see Hitsugaya again. "What are we going to do?"

Hitsugaya looked at her and grinned as he revealed a pair of ice-skating shoes from behind him. "Ice-skating!"

Hinamori hesitated. "But…I don't dare…" The pond in her garden had always been frozen into a big ice-skating rink during winter time, and everybody had been asking her to try skating on it, but she had always rejected the offer. She was always so afraid of breaking the ice and falling into the pond.

"Why? It's fun." Hitsugaya said. "I'll skate alongside you." He offered.

Hinamori shook her head. There was no way she would step onto the pond knowing that there was 10 plus metres worth of water below her.

Hitsugaya grabbed her hand. "I'll hold your hand and guide you." He held her hand up next to his face. "I promise you nothing will happen to you. You will not fall into the pond; you will not slip and fall."

Hinamori could feel her heartbeat accelerating in speed as her head went blur with all the blood gushing towards it. Hitsugaya's hands felt really warm, and his clutch felt so...endearing.

"Okay…" She said finally.

Hitsugaya beamed. "Come on, let's go!"

They ran towards the pond, and put on their skating shoes. Hitsugaya jumped onto the pond immediately. He held out his hand for Hinamori.

Hinamori looked at the pond. The ice was as white as Hitsugaya's hair, and as shiny as his cool blue eyes. Maybe it was not as bad as it seems. She gulped as she reached for Hitsugaya's hand.

Hitsugaya gave her a jerk and there she was: standing on the ice.

She could feel her legs shaking as she grabbed onto Hitsugaya tight with both her hands. Hitsugaya's clutch on her remained firm and assuring, as he whispered to her ears. "I'm going to start skating, you ready?"

Hinamori nodded slightly. Her world started moving as Hitsugaya pulled her deeper into the pond, and round and round the pond. The chill wind caressed her face and the smooth slippery ice felt so good, as she loosened her tight grip on Hitsugaya.

"This really is fun!" She laughed.

"I told you!" Hitsugaya laughed back.

Soon, Hinamori got the hang of skating, as her feet slid along the ice too. Her hand never let Hitsugaya's hand go, though.

They skate around the ice for as long as they could remember, having all the fun they could ever have. Being stuck at home for all her life, this was possibly the time when Hinamori felt the freest and happiest. Not only was ice-skating enjoyable, Hitsugaya was also a fun person to watch. Hitsugaya's laughter was as beautiful as the snowflakes in winter yet as warm as the sun in summer, his smile was angelic, and his movements were smooth and cool. Are all boys like that? Why do they grow up to become so boring and dull, then?

"Young Mistress!"

Hinamori gasped. "That's my maid! Oh no, how long have we been playing?"

They skated back to land, and took off the skating shoes.

"See you again tomorrow, then." Hitsugaya said, as he started to leave.

"Are we doing this again tomorrow?" Hinamori asked eagerly.

Hitsugaya smiled. "Of course, it's our date." He smiled, as he ran away promptly.

Hinamori was left standing next to the pond, staring at his leaving figure once again. _Our date?_ She could feel a blush forming on her face again. So they are dating? That's not bad, that's not bad at all.

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**End of chapter! Their relationship escalated a bit too quickly, right? :P hehe I'm not very good with developing a relationship slowly I like to just get on with it! Haha hope you guys enjoyed anyway, review please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter! Some people reviewed and said the relationship between them is going really fast haha oops I guess I'm really impatient. But if I drag any longer I won't be getting into the main story anytime soon! So, yeah, enjoy hehe ;)**

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Life had been wonderful after Hinamori met Hitsugaya. Every night she meets him, and they do all sorts of things, plucking flowers, playing board games, climbing trees… Sometimes they don't do anything at all, they just lie on the snow and see the stars, talking and enjoying each other's presence. They had been meeting every night for about a month already, but every night was as exciting and happy as the first night.

Hinamori told Hitsugaya all about her life, from her daily boring schedule, to her grandfather. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, did not seem to like revealing much about his life. He just insisted that his life is as boring as the working adults' lives, and that there's nothing interesting to share. Though Hinamori did learn that Hitsugaya's parents are no longer around anymore, which was quite sad. Hinamori's parents died a long time ago too, but at least she still has her grandfather.

But the bestest of the bestest things that happened to Hinamori was when Hinamori clarified about what Hitsugaya said. They had been lying on the snow side by side, looking at the sky.

"Shiro-chan."

"Hm?"

"Remember that day, the first day we did this?"

"Our first ice-skating day?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"You said…. You told me that this was…that we were…we are… You said that this was our date."

"…Uh huh."

"Well, usually people only date when they are in love."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"…"

"Are we in love?"

There had been a long pause. Then Hitsugaya had turned around slowly to face her. Then he had leaned forward, and kissed her on the lips. It had been sudden – and Hinamori wished now that it had been longer – but it had been, it still is, the best moment in her life. Ever.

Maybe that was what love feels like. Was that why her piano teacher was praising her about her _Liebestraum _recently? Maybe she finally knew how to express it right.

There was a knock on the door.

"Momo?"

It was her grandfather.

"Come in, Grandpa!" She called out.

Her grandfather came in. "Hey, my dearest granddaughter." He said, giving her a tight hug.

"Hey, my dearest Grandpa." She replied.

"I have been rather busy these days, so I haven't got the chance to see you. How's it going?" He asked, scrutinizing her all over.

She shrugged, pretending that everything was normal.

Her grandfather gave her a long, thoughtful stare as she squirmed slightly in her seat. Why does her grandfather always know when she is lying?

"I heard from your piano teacher that you have been improving a lot." He said slowly. "Especially in the Love Dream piece."

Hinamori nodded. "Well, erm, I've been reading a lot of Shakespeare, and erm, other books like erm, Twilight, erm, to understand more about love."

Her grandfather raised an eyebrow dubiously. "You can just tell me the truth you know. Have you fallen in love with a boy?"

Hinamori wanted to slap herself for blushing right at that instant.

"Who is it?"

Might as well admit it. Hinamori grinned uncontrollably. "A really, really loving and cute boy, but I can't tell you who."

Her grandfather sighed. "A boy with white hair? Hitsugaya Toushiro?"

She sat up sharply, shocked. "How do you know?" She gasped as she realized she just gave herself away.

"Who else your age would come by this house?" Her grandfather asked back.

Hinamori slumped on her table. "Yeah. I love him." She admitted.

Her grandfather frowned. "I think you should stop seeing him anymore."

"What?" She exclaimed. "No!"

"Momo!" Her grandfather said crossly. "How dare you disobey your grandfather?"

Hinamori could feel rage forming within her. "That's not fair! You've always locked me in the house, and I've done everything you've ever asked me to do, and now I'm not allowed to be with the person I love!" She could feel tears forming in her eyes.

Her grandfather softened, and sighed. "Listen to me, Momo, Hitsugaya Toushiro is not…suitable for you."

"How would you know anything?" Hinamori cried spitefully.

Her grandfather reached over to stroke her hair. "Shush, Momo. I'm sorry, maybe it's my fault that I lock you away from the outside world for too long. I want to protect you, do you understand?" He sighed. "You might not agree with what I am saying right now, but Hitsugaya Toushiro is really not the boy you think he is, trust me, and he is not the one you truly love. You are probably smitten by him because you have never met any other boy in your life."

"That's not true!" Hinamori exclaimed. "He's the nicest, gentlest person on Earth!"

There was an awkward moment of silence, before her grandfather said. "Come with me, I'll show you who he truly is."

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**End of chapter! Hehe leaving you guys with sort of a cliff-hanger and I'm probably not going to publish the next chapter anytime soon cuz I'm rather busy haha. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :) Review, please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Here's a longer chapter as an apology for the long wait hahaha but you guys have to get used to the long wait T.T School is becoming quite busy... Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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Her grandfather brought her down to the basement. Hinamori had never been in the basement before, it was where his grandfather holds his meetings with boring old adults, and she was never allowed in anyway. She looked around at the unfamiliar place deep within her house she calls home.

The basement was dimly lit, but still managed to portray a grand and magnificent feel. The decorations were traditional and oriental, with calligraphy paintings and bonsai placed at the corners.

Her grandfather brought her into a room. There were tables and chairs and televisions opposite a glass wall, showing the other room. The other room was just an empty white room.

"Sit anywhere." Her grandfather said, and she settled on a chair.

"Where is this place?" She asked.

"Something like an examination centre, where we test the members in our company for their skills." There was a telephone at the end of the table. Her grandfather pressed a button and said. "Call Hitsugaya over for a simulation test." He then slowly turned to her.

"Remember Grandpa once explained my job to you?"

Hinamori nodded as she recalled. "Provide protection for people."

"Yes. There are many sections in our company. There are bodyguards, security guards, training services and classes, production of weapons and other military capitals…"

"Yeah, you told me that countless times." Hinamori said, slightly annoyed.

"What did Hitsugaya say was his job?"

"He settles customers' complains, he said."

Her grandfather nodded. "That is actually an excellent way to put it. A splendid euphemism for his actual job."

Hinamori frowned. "What…what do you mean?"

"Hitsugaya's job… How do I say?" Her grandfather scratched his beard, thinking. "Looking at our job scope, when customers complain to us, it's usually about, well, other people that are harming them, or giving them insecurities. Hitsugaya's job, and he's really good at it, is to prevent these people from harming our customers anymore."

Hinamori took a while digesting fully what her grandfather said. "That's good, isn't it? He's a hero!"

Her grandfather sighed in exasperation. "Are you not going to ask how does he prevent these people from harming our customers?"

"Ok. How does he prevent these people from harming our customers?"

The door opened on the room opposite the glass wall. There was Hitsugaya, looking slightly irked as he closed the door behind him.

"Shiro-chan!" Hinamori called out. Hitsugaya did not react.

"He can't hear or see you, but we can see and hear him, which is good because I want you to see him when he's not with you." Her grandfather explained. He leaned forward and held onto another button on the telephone.

"You may start the test whenever you're ready." He said.

Hitsugaya trudged to one side of the wall and miraculously pulled out a whole case of weapons that include different shapes and sizes of guns, knives and swords. "Why the fuck do you want to see me complete this test today at this goddamn hour?" He asked, pissed.

Hinamori gasped at the language as her grandfather promptly reached over to the phone again. "Watch the language, Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya grunted unhappily as he started assembling a gun in a very professional manner. Hinamori stared in disbelief. Where was the fun, gentle, angelic Shiro-chan she had come to know? Right now standing in front of her was an angry and vulgar boy with menacing and cold eyes, as if he was ready to kill.

There was a countdown from the above PA system.

_Five._

_Four._

_Three._

_Two._

_One._

_Zero._

Suddenly, ten ninja-like people appeared out of thin air and charged towards Hitsugaya from different directions. Hinamori gasped as she shrieked. "Shiro-chan!"

There was no need to worry, though. In an instance, all ten of them vanished as Hitsugaya shot all of them right at the heart without hesitation. The gunshot scared Hinamori as she gaped at Hitsugaya reloading his gun nonchalantly and effortlessly.

A couple more ninja-like people appeared, this time with different weapons, some with guns and shurikens. Hinamori watched with awe and horror as Hitsugaya 'killed' every one of them easily.

The simulation lasted for about 30 minutes. Hitsugaya changed weapons a few times, sometimes even without weapons, as he turned out to be rather skilled with killing by breaking a person's neck. When it was done, Hitsugaya disassembled his guns and wiped his sweat away with a towel that was provided.

Hinamori was still staring incredulously at the glass.

"You asked me, or rather, I asked you to ask me about how Hitsugaya prevent people from harming our customers anymore? This is how." Her grandfather said slowly, watching her expression. "That was what I meant when I said Hitsugaya Toushiro is not the boy you think he is."

"He's a killer." Hinamori said finally, disappointment and sorrow spreading across her heart as she realized the hard truth. That was why Hitsugaya did not want to talk about his past. He's been hiding so much from her. She felt cheated, deceived, and heartbroken. "He's not the loving and gentle boy I know. He's…cold…and scary." She said in a soft whisper.

Her grandfather sighed. "Before I let him work here, he was a thief, stealing and robbing people for a living. I gave him this job so that he would quit harming innocent people." He patted Hinamori. "I hope you understand now why I don't want you to see him anymore."

Hinamori nodded in agreement. Her heartache was so bad and her vision was so blurred with the tears she felt like locking herself away from everything, even though technically she was already somewhat locked away.

The door opened, and Hitsugaya came in. "I'm done with this fucking simulation test, now will you explain to me why –"

Hitsugaya stopped dead when he saw Hinamori. His angry face softened, his eyes immediately became warmer. "Hinamori." He said with a strained smile. "What are you doing here?" The curt and harsh tone he was using with her grandfather disappeared.

After seeing the ugly side of Hitsugaya, Hinamori felt even more devastated seeing the drastic change in attitude in him. So he had been acting all along? So she had loved the wrong person all along?

She could not take it anymore, as she stomped out of the room, out of the basement, and into her room. She slammed her door shut, and cried herself to sleep.

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**End of chapter! Hope you enjoyed! :) Reviews, please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so happy that you guys liked the way the story turned out so far! :') Thanks for the reviews, guys, and sorry for the long wait! Here's a short next chapter.**

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Hitsugaya watched helplessly as Hinamori ran out of the room, weeping badly. It took a while for Hitsugaya to finally understand what happened: Hinamori had just seen him do the simulation test. Dread overcame him. Hinamori was such an innocent and kind girl, she would hate him forever.

"I'm sorry to have called you over for a test so suddenly." His boss, Yamamoto, said. "You did well, by the way, I'm impressed."

Dread was once again replaced by anger. That old geezer called him up for this stupid test at this time just for Hinamori to see this ugly side of him. "Why the fuck did you do that for?" He shouted, trembling with anger.

"Why did I do that?" Yamamoto glared back at him. "Why did you make her fall in love with you, then?"

Hitsugaya was blushing but he did not care. "I didn't _make_ her fall in love with me! We fell in love with each other!"

Yamamoto remained a nonchalant expression, which irked Hitsugaya even more. "I had to protect my granddaughter."

"_Protect? _What? You think I'm going to harm Hinamori?" He answered exasperatedly. "I will never harm her!"

"Looking at your records, I am not inclined to believe that." Yamamoto replied coolly.

Hitsugaya wanted to shout an argument back, but he realized he had got nothing to say to that. He glared at his boss and clenched his fists, wanting to strike out at the old man, but stopped himself. He sighed in exasperation. "But I really do love her." He said, dejected.

"I'll let you woo her again if you managed to gain my total trust." Yamamoto said. "For now, forgive me for doing things like that; you know I am very protective of my granddaughter."

Hitsugaya nodded slowly. "What… What did you tell Hinamori about me?" He asked, fearing what he might hear.

"I just told her that you used to be a thief, but now you're working for me. I didn't tell her everything because I know she still likes you a lot; I don't want to break her heart too much."

Hitsugaya heaved a sigh of relieve. "Thanks." He muttered, knowing that it could be a lot worse if Yamamoto decided to tell Hinamori everything.

"Alright, you are dismissed." Yamamoto said, leaving the room hastily.

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There was a knock on the door. "Momo?"

It was her grandfather. Hinamori did not bother lifting her head of her pillow as she shouted. "Leave me alone!"

"Momo, please." Her grandfather answered, his benign voice tinted with worry and concern.

Hinamori slowly got off her bed, carelessly rubbed her eyes and nose with tissues and opened the door for her grandfather. "What do you want, Grandpa?" She asked.

"May I come in?"

Hinamori nodded, as they walked towards her bed once again.

"I'm sorry to have let you see such unsightly things." Yamamoto said, stroking Hinamori's hair. "Are you still upset?"

HInamori nodded, her tears coming out once more. "Yeah." She choked out. She still could not believe how Hitsugaya had lied to her and deluded her all these while.

"I've been thinking…" Yamamoto said. "This whole saga have made me realized something. You've always wanted to go to school, but I've always wanted to protect you, and homeschooled you instead. But you're going to have to grow up and face the outside world."

"Yeah…?"

"Well, I realize the need to toughen you up, and also get your mind off that Hitsugaya. So I changed my mind."

Hinamori stared at her grandfather incredulously. "You're letting me go to school?" She said, her unhappiness slowly disappearing. She had been pestering her grandfather to allow her to go to school like a normal kid instead of being cooped up in her room, and her grandfather had always disagreed. This sudden change of mind without Hinamori begging for it was really a dream come true.

"I think the best way to protect you is not to protect you too much." Yamamoto shrugged. "So, what do you think of going to Seireitei Junior High School next year?"

"I think it's wonderful!" Hinamori said cheerfully. She was finally going to school and making some friends! She was finally getting out of this house and seeing the outside world!

"Not upset anymore?" Her grandfather asked.

Hinamori blushed. "I'm still quite upset with Shiro-chan, but I'm happier with going to school."

Her grandfather laughed and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry, within a few months' time you'll have so many friends that your Shiro-chan will no longer hold a place in your heart!"

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**End of chapter! Yeah this chapter is quite boring haha but anyway hope you guys enjoyed! :) Reviews, please! ^^**


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